Underlying Beauty
by Avatard.2112
Summary: Oneshot: Katara loves to watch the rain. Little does she know, someone else is watching her... 7 years after SC. KATAANG! R&R.


HOORAY FOR ONE-SHOTS! Sorry I wanted to write more for the Gates but I have been seriously deprived of their love so I decided to write this until I feel inspired again. Hope you enjoy! Oh btw, this is seven years from Sozin's Comet... :) Don't forget to read and review. They really help, even if they are just one word reviews!

-Avatard.2112

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It was a rainy day. Every wisp of air that swirled around was bitterly cold. Each raindrop was like an icy bullet that stung any skin it made contact with. The weather was just… ugly.

She sat at the window watching the small streams of water make their way down the glass. And as she watched, she also listened. Each droplet hit with a musical sound. It was a symphony of pitter-patters. And with every object it hit, it made a new sound. It was like a song. A song that needed someone to dance to its tempo.

How cliche, right? No girl had ever danced in the rain before...

But she needed to feel the cascading water caress her skin. Not wanted. Needed. The kind of need that burned through her like an icy fire, destroying any other thoughts that crossed its path.

It was as if the water called to her, inviting her to experience its underlying beauty. To teach her that it was not ugly. To teach her its inner life. The same life that pulsed through her veins, was falling from the sky outside her window. Although it could appear dark and cold at times, it had a mysterious quality that provided hope. Hope of new life, and new beginnings. And she needed to feel that hope.

So she leapt from her spot and ran out of the door with no hesitation.

Just need.

When she erupted from her shelter, she suddenly felt alive. With every pounding of water against her skin, she felt revival. As if she had been dead, and now she was finally opening her eyes.

Before she knew is she was standing in the middle of the clearing. So she stopped moving and just stared up into the oncoming of rain. Part of her wondered where this miracle came from, but the other part didn't really care. All she cared about was enjoying the present that the heavens had offered her. And with that thought she started to move again, but not to walk. To dance.

First a quick hop, then a spin, and a kick here and a kick there, and a multitude of steps between. She wasn't sure what she was doing. But it felt a lot like dancing so she kept going.

Anyone who was watching her would have thought she was a fool. But she didn't care. She just pranced around the clearing, letting the water saturate her clothes and her soul. And with every drop, her movements became more graceful. She loved it.

She became so caught up in the rhythm of her steps, that she did not notice someone else emerge from the house. She just kept twirling, and jumping, and swinging with the precipitation.

Soon she was running out of breath and the cold rain was starting to give her shivers, so she decided that she would perform one more twirl before she left the sweet embrace of the rain. She took two steps and then she sprung into the air, leaving all of her cares on the ground. And right before her feet touched back down into the earth, she felt two strong hands grab her waist, keeping her suspended in mid flight.

The sudden pressure pushed all of the wind out of her, and she thrust her eyes open to look upon the person who had grabbed her, ready to attack if needed.

But as she looked down into his familiar sparkling silver eyes, she realized that the man holding hadn't grabbed her. He had caught her.

She could only glimpse at his elated irises for a moment before she was flying in the air one again. Although it was enlightening to fly, it was also a little higher than she would have liked. When she came careening back down, she landed delicately in his awaiting arms. Always ready to catch her.

When she landed, all she could hear was his resonating laughter at her flight routine. She couldn't blame him… she was not a majestic bird when it came to flying. But his laugh wasn't a mocking laugh. It was just... a laugh. And oddly it sent shivers across her bare skin and made her want to join in his merriment.

Yet before she started to giggle, she socked him in the arm as hard as she could. I wasn't meant to be mean. It was just a warning that throwing her ten feet into the sky was not a good way to get her attention. But the impact was met with his hard muscle and did little to phase his laughter.

But he did notice it.

"What… was that... for?" He asked between his bouts of chuckling.

"You know what its for!" She tried to keep a straight face as she scolded him, but soon her facade broke away and she was left giggling like a little school girl. So much for scolding him.

Finally after their amusement died down, she suddenly wondered how long he had been watching her. Although she hadn't cared during her dance, her awareness of how dumb she must have looked suddenly pushed its way into her mind. A rush a blood shot up to her cheeks and her hue became a gentle shade of pink.

"So… how much of that little stunt did you see?" she said tentatively as he finally released her from his hold. She had forgotten about the cold rain as she sat in his arms, and she regretted crawling out of his warm embrace as soon as she was standing again. She tried not to let her mind wander on what else she missed about his hold...

"Enough." He quirked that cute smile that he had worn since he was a child. But unlike when he was young, t had a new aspect to it. She didn't mean to think it, but the word just kind of popped into her head. It was sexy.

With the word, her cheeks turned an even darker shade of pink and another wave of goosebumps passed over her. He must have noticed her face changing and quickly added, "Oh come on! I have known you for seven years. I have seen much worse… mostly from your brother..." He added the last part with a pretend shiver and a look of disgust on his face.

A small giggle escaped her lips and he grinned in response. For a few seconds she just stood there looking into his blithfull eyes. As she stared, she watched the water run down his forehead and drip over his eyes. It reminded her of the window. Her eyes kept following the meandering stream until it made its way to his lips. Those soft lips. She had felt them when they were kids but that was just innocent child's play. But when she looked at his lips now, she felt a deep desire in her chest that overwhelmed all of her rational thoughts.

As she stood deep in thought, she was gradually, yet unconsciously, moving her face closer to his and just as they were about to touch, the reality of his closeness popped her dreamy thoughts and she pulled away with a gasp. Her eyes went wide and she turned to walk back into the house.

"Hey! Where are you going?" he yelled behind her. His tone suggested that he was shocked that she had pulled away. In actuality, she surprised herself when she pulled away. She could not describe how badly she had wanted to kiss him. To feel them engulfed in his. As she thought about it, she unconsciously reached up and touched her lips. They felt cold. And lonely. Why did she always have to ruin perfect moments with her awkwardness…Why wasn't her reaction to move closer rather than away?

All of a sudden a warm hand on her arm pulled her from her thoughts and brought her back into his arms. As she swung towards him, he had also grabbed her other arm and he now held her in his strong, yet somehow comforting grasp. She was completely at his mercy. Part of her wanted to push away, still embarrassed by her decision to pull away. But she couldn't. He was just so… magnetic… and warm. Which was shocking because in the moments he had spent with her, he had also become quite drenched by the crisp raindrops descending around them.

So she was back where she had started. In his arms. She hesitantly raised her face to look into his hypnotizing eyes again and in them she saw compassion. He didn't care that she had denied him. He still looked at her with a passion that can only be described as love.

She reached one hand up to his wet face and felt his blood flow just beneath the skin. It was so inviting. Then she proceeded to lightly move her thumb across his cheek to his awaiting lips. As her thumb wisped across his tender skin she realized, she was right. They were soft.

And before she fully understood what was happening, she had pushed her own lips against his. Her first thought was that he had definitely gotten better at kissing since they were little. As his lips touched hers, she felt an electric pulse move between them and the feeling resembled the one she had while dancing in the rain. It was exhilarating and with a sort of instinct, she reached her free hand up and grabbed the other side of his face. As she held her fingers against his moistened skin, he moved his lips rhythmically against hers with a ferocity that she had never felt from him. They shared their air and allowed their sweet breath to exchange with each other. And she had to admit that is tasted good. As she ran her tongue along his lower lip, she realized that he tasted like the rain that waa still pouring around their figures.

His hands tangled in her wild wet hair, as he tried to pull her even closer. Almost every gap between them was filled with the electric shock of their bodies shaping to each other. But she needed more.

So she pressed even closer, and he pushed back, all while holding their kiss together. She felt that if he removed his lips she would never get the chance to feel them again. But what they didn't realize was that the mud beneath their feet shifted also, and in a flash it brought them toppling down into the moist earth. Luckily she landed on him, and he broke her fall. But unfortunately the fall broke the contact between their hungry mouths.

When they fell, her head had fallen right onto his lean torso and it took her a second before she was willing to part with the thrumming she could hear in his chest. But eventually she lifted her head and with her soaked hair hanging around her face, she looked down at him. She uttered a small giggle when she saw that all of his backside was covered in the mud that surrounded them. He made a fake pouty face and decided that she needed to have a little mud on her too. So with a quick hand, he flung a small clod of earth at her.

She hadn't seen it coming, and so she was left completely defenseless. It hit her square in the chest. Her giggles stopped abruptly when the clod made contact. She stared down in surprise at her unexpected attacker. His face was scrunched into a stupid smile that almost melted away the need for revenge. Almost.

Stealthily, she grabbed the nearest mudpile and shoved it right into the middle of his beautiful face. As soon as her assault made contact, she surged into the air and sprinted to the nearest tree, attempting to hide from his next move. She was inches away from the tree when she was shot down by a dirtball to the middle of the back. She tripped and tumbled into a huge muddy puddle of water. Did she mention how cold it was? Because it was COLD.

The water knocked the wind out of her and as quick as she could, she crawled out of its icy grips. Once free she just laid beside the puddle and took a moment to catch her breath. It was hard because she was shivering so much. Oh now he was going to get it. She started making fake coughing noises, like she had swallowed some water.

Just as she expected, he ran over with concern and held out a hand to pull her up from the ground.

"Are you Ok? I'm so sorry! I was just playing! I didn't mean to-" His sentence was cut short when she pulled him across her body and he was flung into the very puddle she had just scrambled out of. The last thing she heard before he hit the water was a shocked gasp.

It didn't take long before he had clambered out of the puddle in the same manner she did. He shook off his wet head, almost like a dog, and looked over to her face, which was covered in beaming grin.

"Oh, I'm sorry? Did I get you dirty?" She said with a heavy tone of sarcasm. She batted her large eyelashes in the most innocent way she could. He stared at her with a playful grimace. She played dirty.

Finally his glowering gaze faded and he raised his hands in defeat. At this point, both of them were covered in a "healthy coating of earth". The only thing visible was their eyes and mouth. He looked so cute when he lost to her.

"I guess I win... as always!" but as she said this, she noticed a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. Suddenly he lunged towards her and he pinned her to the flooded ground. She tried to squirm out of his grasp, but she knew escape was futile.

"I guess you are wrong… as always!" He said the two final words with a voice to mock hers. Then he stunned her again, and he closed the distance between them, locking his lips with hers. Whoever said losing wasn't sweet was wrong. Because his lips definitely tasted sweeter than any candy to her…

Their delicious kiss came to an early end, when they heard someone yelling into the rain at them. She looked over her captor's body to see an especially angry brother. Even from the distance she could tell that his face was a few shades deeper than it should have been.

As she looked over to her brother, she felt the weight on top of her lift away. She reluctantly stood up with him and they walked over to the steaming man at the door. As they finally came into hearing range, they regretted their decision of acknowledging him.

"...ALL I WANTED WAS A PEACEFUL VACATION! But no instead you two had to ruin my breakfast and get all smoochy… I swear I can't leave you two alone for more than five seconds…" he rambled on.

"Oh shut up, Sokka. Go back inside." She muttered.

"OH OK. I will just leave you two to make babies in the rain!"

At his accusation, both of them simultaneously blushed. "It wasn't like that…. we were just… you walked in at a weird moment…" She stuttered as Sokka finally turned around in resignation and walked back inside.

"Yea, yea, heard that one before… just get cleaned off-ALONE- and come back inside for breakfast."

After the door shut behind him she finally turned back to the man beside her. The rain was just starting to taper off.

She bended the dripping mud off of them and with a resigned sigh she said, "I had fun… Thanks for dancing with me…" She looked at her feet as she said that trying not to look too bashful. When she had said dancing she had meant more than just dancing in the rain. She was thinking more along the lines of dancing with their lips.

"Anytime.." He said through his smile then he grabbed her face and pulled her into a tender but passionate kiss. It only lasted for a second, but it was enough to satisfy her.

When he pulled away, she opened her cerulean eyes and met his slate colored irises.

"I love you, Aang." She said with unwavering uncertainty.

Like the rain, she had something hidden in her depths. Something that felt awry in her mind full of reasoning. And that something was beautiful just like the rain.

All it took was a little dancing to bring it to the surface.


End file.
